Johanna Konta's route to the Australian Open semi-finals

Johanna had a great two weeks, she had a great two weeks and she has a great future.

Johanna Konta ground down Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-1 at the Australian Open on Wednesday to become the first British woman to reach the semifinals of a grand slam in over 30 years. "She was and still is my idol", Kerber said of Graf, who won 22 grand slam titles - an Open-era record that Serena Williams is gunning to match in Melbourne.

The top-ranked and defending champion Djokovic is bidding to win his sixth Australian Open, and to continue a run that earned him three of the four Grand Slam trophies in 2015.

The Belarusian player began as the favourite, despite being ranked seven places lower in the tournament at 14th seed, due to her excellent form, but Kerber dominated proceedings in the opening set, claiming it 6-3.

"When I was a little girl I dreamt of winning grand slams and being number one in the world".

Radwanksa's admission after the match was telling. "I've really enjoyed the battles, I think that has been a really good experience". "I don't think anyone can really play on that level", the Pole said.

With the roof on Rod Laver Arena closed because of a thunderstorm closing in, the most obvious noise in the first set was the chirping of trapped birds who'd taken shelter in the stadium. "She's beaten me before, too, and pretty good".

That lack of progress on the biggest stage meant that she refocused her goals at the end of previous year.

Williams' mom, Oracene Price, a calming figure who takes things in her stride and never seems to get stressed watching her daughters play pivotal matches, was less blunt.

Jamie Murray and Brazil's Bruno Soares advanced to the doubles final with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Adrian Mannarino and Lucas Pouille and will next meet Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek, who beat Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers 7-6 (11), 6-4.

Kerber went down a break in the second set before winning five consecutive games and saving five set points before beating two-time champion Azarenka, the result coming as a surprise despite the difference in seedings.

There is plenty of attention on Bernard Tomic's younger sister, Sara, who reached the junior girls' singles semi-finals at Melbourne Park on Thursday.

Konta gave herself three set points but failed to bury any of them, missing routine winners as the pressure told, before sending down a double fault that gifted Zhang her first break to stay in touch at 3-5.

This will be the first ever meeting between Konta and Kerber.

Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska (L) walks past Serena Williams of the U.S.as she leaves after Radw ... I will just try to focusing like today, to be aggressive, more focusing on my game, and then let's see how far I can get here. She became a local favorite when Melbourne Park fans learned she had been born in Sydney, Australia to Hungarian parents and moved as a teen to England, where she obtained citizenship in 2012. "I really went out there with a very clear mindset of just trying to compete to the best of my ability today against the opponent that I had on the other side of the court".